Ensemble participation in late adulthood

What does it mean to be part of a musical ensemble as we grow older? In addition to the avenues for physical, cognitive, and emotional growth provided by learning to play a musical instrument, playing together in an ensemble also presents an opportunity for socializing. This chapter highlights the benefits and challenges of ensemble participation in late adulthood, focusing on a case study which considers the continued involvement of aging adult participants in a community orchestra. Results demonstrate that the orchestra as an ensemble context continues to be intellectually stimulating for players across all ages, with rehearsing and performing as a group giving the participants a means to feel bonded with others in their community. These results present opportunities for community ensembles in general to consider ways that they can further support individuals in late adulthood, particularly in navigating the physical and mental stresses that may arise.

From Transition Through Old Age: Caring for Adults With Down Syndrome

As adults with Down syndrome live longer lives, increased attention is being paid to their health, work, and living situations. In this chapter, we divide the adult years in Down syndrome into young adulthood—roughly from 20 through the late 40s—and older adulthood, from the late 40s until death in the late 50s or 60s. Many adults with Down syndrome are doing well during early adulthood, although concerns persist about their finding meaningful jobs, connecting to others in the community, and (sometimes) showing increased levels of depression. During later adulthood, changes emerge for many, including the onset of chronic “old-age” health problems during the 50s, as well as moving away from their parental homes (often occurring as late as the 40s). Despite 160 years of research on the syndrome, major gaps remain in our understanding of adulthood, especially concerning connections among the health, functioning, and work and residential status of the aging adult with Down syndrome, as well as the aging of their parents and their relationships with adult siblings.

GENDER AND BELIEFS ABOUT SUCCESSFUL AGING IN EASTERN NEPAL

Gender shapes opportunities and experiences over the life course, which may influence beliefs about what it means to age successfully. In Nepal, a developing nation in South Asia, women and girls have historically had fewer social and economic opportunities than their male counterparts. To understand how gender may shape beliefs about successful aging, adult members of the Jiri population in eastern Nepal were asked to rate the importance of health-related (e.g., longevity), psychological (e.g., satisfaction with life), and social (e.g., support of family and friends) elements of successful aging (n = 1479; 52.9% female; 49.0% age 18-39, 33.1% age 40 to 59, 17.8% age 60 and over). Each of the 13 elements was rated as very important by over two thirds of the sample. Few gender differences in beliefs were observed; however, results of logistic regression analysis indicate that the odds of Jiri women endorsing longevity (OR = 0.75, p = 0.02) and life satisfaction (OR = 0.65, p = 0.02) as very important to successful aging were significantly lower than for men, controlling for age, education, and presence of illness. While more similarities than differences in beliefs about successful aging were observed by gender, the extent to which socially-defined roles and expectations may be responsible for observed differences should be explored in future research.